VETERANS: How much is too much?

As House and Senate negotiators conference on their respective bills to revamp the Department of Veterans Affairs, many conservatives are taking note of the egregious mandatory spending proposal outlined in the original Senate bill. The call to expand private care benefits for veterans amounts to an entitlement that may very well grow on autopilot into the distant future, running up a tab on U.S. taxpayers that could total more than $50 billion per year.

This is an emotional issue, that builds sympathy during periods of conflict, but it will (as always) take a back seat to women’s contraceptives, bicycle paths, renewable fuels and exercise monitors for teachers. $50 billion per year to help veterans wounded defending their country, honoring their oaths, and writing that check, will always seem like too much to pay.

MICHAEL AHLMAN

Hayden